1. Field
The following description relates generally to wireless communications and more particularly to shared wireless wide area network modems.
2. Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content, such as voice, data, video, and so forth, and to communicate information regardless of where a user is located (e.g., inside or outside a structure) and whether a user is stationary or moving (e.g., in a vehicle, walking). These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available systems resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power). Multiple-access systems include Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, and others.
Generally, wireless multiple-access communication systems can simultaneously support communication for multiple mobile (e.g., wireless) devices (or mobile terminals). Each mobile device can communicate with one or more base stations through transmissions on forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from base stations to mobile devices. The reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from mobile devices to base stations. These communication links can be established through single-input-single-output (SISO) systems, multiple-input-single-output (MISO) systems, multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) systems, and so forth. In addition, mobile devices can communicate with other mobile devices (and/or base stations with other base stations) in peer-to-peer wireless network configurations.
A typical wireless communication network (e.g., employing frequency, time, and code division techniques) includes one or more base stations that provide a coverage area and one or more mobile devices that can transmit and receive data within the coverage area. A typical base station can concurrently transmit multiple data streams for broadcast, multicast, and/or unicast services, wherein a data stream is a stream of data that can be of independent reception interest to a mobile device. A mobile device within the coverage area of that base station can be interested in receiving one, more than one, or all data streams carried by the composite stream. Likewise, a mobile device can transmit data to the base station or another mobile device.
When a user desires to communicate over a network, that user operates a device and a modem of the device is utilized to perform the communication functions. However, this can consume the device's energy, which can become a concern especially if the user is not near a power source. Further, at times a quality of the device's link might be low, resulting in signal degradation, which can negatively affect the user's communication experience.